How are we going to get out of this? We have an army of undead all around and god knows where we are! I know that there is little to no chance of us surviving, even if we make it through this challenge, there will just be another waiting for us. And while the enemy grows with each fallen survivor our numbers only grow smaller, and our resources dwindle more and more. What’s the point in fighting, if there’s no hope of victory?

Pages

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Haven Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The van
became covered in blood, in their desperation to reach me inside the dead had
scratched whatever remaining skin off their hands. The smell was disgusting,
but I felt strangely calm, resolute. I was going to die here, and I was okay
with that.

But I
was wrong

Apparently
the world wasn’t done with me yet, and the scratching and growling slowly
stopped, and as it did I could hear the low growl of another engine. I tried to
look through my mirrors to see where it was coming from, but the ones outside
had been ripped off and my back window was smeared with blood and worse. But I
could still make out some shapes. The dead that had given up on me were now
running frantically away from me, or more towards another car. They turned the
corner, I couldn’t see them anymore. The sounds faded away but still I stared
at where they were just a few moments ago. Then a bloody hand slammed against
my window.

I leapt
out of the front seat and into the passenger side, I pulled out my gun on
instinct, even though it was out of bullets. But my fear was miss lead, as the
hand wiped away the blood I could see a face, and it was one I recognised. It
was Will. In one swift motion I unlocked the door, opened it and hugged him. I
had never been more grateful to see anyone my entire life. And he wasn’t alone “Thank
god we made it in time,” It was Nicole, gasping for air, they’d obviously ran.
Lauren eventually joined us, in a similar state to Nicole’s.

“What
are you doing here?” I asked, while I was glad to see them I didn’t think
joining me on a suicide mission was the best choice

“Saving
you, you ungrateful idiot,” Nicole replied indignantly

“Connor,
at least we think it was Connor, sent us a message,” Will explained, he was all
smiles, “‘Save Todd’”

“It was
pretty obvious it was you who stopped the dead from reaching us,” Nicole
continued, “then all we had to do was”-

“Follow
the zombies,” the three of them finished in unison.

“So the
car that drove them away?” I was suddenly worried that they put their lives on
the line to save me, after I did someone to save their lives

“The
Ute,” Will answered, “Chris, Jade, and Daniel took it as a distraction while
Andria took the car to pick up the others”

“Speaking
of the others we better get going,” Nicole began with a serious tone, “They’d
have a much better chance at surviving with our help.”

1

I couldn’t
believe they had done this, I thought I was dead, and more than that I thought
we had failed as a group. We had lost Brooke even though we thought we were
prepared, and then when faced with another threat I was forced to sacrifice myself
for them. But now I found out we are stronger than I thought, that even when
they were apart my friends had managed to organise a rescue mission. This time
they had saved me, but my job wasn’t done yet, not by a long shot.

I got everyone to wipe down the windows so we could see. Will had brought ammo
and weapons so we restocked, then we were off again. I turned down the corner I
saw the dead disappear down, but after that there were no other signs of where
they had gone. Luckily Will had a radio, as did Daniel. “Daniel, it’s Will, we
got Todd where are you guys?” Will sounded afraid

“Will!”
Daniel’s voice came through the radio, he sounded distressed, and you could
hear the sound of the engine as well as gunshots in the background. “We’re
headed towards Clyde Road, we’re hoping to lose them there but we could use
some help!” I grabbed the radio off Will

“Daniel?
Can you hear me this is Todd?” I spoke, trying not to sound afraid, or too
desperate to hear Jade’s voice

“Todd! Thank
god you’re alright!”

“Yeah,”
I tried to stay focused, “we’ll come up behind you and split the group in half,
once you’re sure you’ve lost them we’ll meet at the warehouse”

“Haven? Alright,”
Daniel finished and the radio just played static

“Haven?”
I turned to Nicole with a raised eyebrow

Nicole
shrugged back, “seemed like a good name at the time”

“No, its
fine”

“I guess
it made more sense before we had to abandon it.”

Daniel
had chosen a good road to lead them to, a familiar one, and soon we could see
the stragglers of the dead. Will climbed on top of the van and shot at any that
came to close. They must have been practicing while I was away because he’d
become a good shot. In fact we got so close I could hear the gunshots of the
other’s and then the engine. I wanted so much to simply drive through the
zombies to see them, to feel her next to me again. But I had to wait, because
what I wanted even more than that is for her to be safe. So I had to wait.
There was another reason why Will was on top of the van, he had a better view
of the dead, and when we got to a certain point in their group he yelled to me,
“now, Todd, turn now!”

I span
the wheel carefully, I needed to be sharp enough to turn around in the space
and time given, but too sharp and I would lose control, and that would not be
good. Will clung on to the top as we turned, but when we hit the curb the whole
van jolted and he lost his balance. His hands still held on to the bar attached
to the roof but now his legs dangled precariously. At any other time he might
have been able to drop down, or even stand up, but we were still surrounded by
the dead, and they were hungry. He pulled his legs up as high as he could, and whenever
one of them got to close he’d swing them out to knock them down, but it wouldn’t
work forever, and every time he made contact he risked infection via fluid
transfer.

“Will
hang on, I’m coming to get you!” I yelled out the window and reached for the
handbrake, he had slowed down considerably during our manoeuvre, so I could
stop here and get out

“No you’re
not!” Nicole pulled my hand away, “you’ll be eaten alive the second you open
those doors, and even if you aren’t the plan would fail and we would all die”

“We can’t
leave him!”

“We won’t,”
with her other hand she grabbed my gun, turned the safety off and fired at the
window. Glass shattered covering Will’s legs and I felt a chill, those windows
were still covered in infected blood, one scratch and it could be over. But at
least we could save him now. Nicole yelled for Will and caught his attention,
seeing her plan he swung his legs towards her. She caught them and tried to
pull him inside, “Lauren help!” from the back seat Lauren left her huddled
position and grabbed Will’s belt. “Will you have to let go!” Nicole yelled out
the window

“Are you
crazy?” I heard him yell back. But nevertheless it was his only chance, he let
go. Will wasn’t incredibly heavy, but still Nicole and Lauren had trouble
holding on, let alone pulling him in. With one hand on the wheel I reached out
to help. We were moving faster now, pulling about half of the dead away from
the others, and I had to focus, so I let Nicole guide my hand. Finally the
three of us were able to pull him inside, but now there was a hole in our defence,
if the dead caught up now there would be little to stop them.

But we
were lucky, I might say skilled, but I’m not that confident. After a few side
streets we couldn’t see them anymore, and after a few more we slowed down to
see if there were any still frantically following us. There wasn’t. I had
survived, we had survived. And now we drove to meet the others at the
warehouse, the place they named Haven. Where finally I would reunite with Jade.